～て

～て is the form a verb takes when it is not the last verb in the sentence. It means "and" or "and then". The verb at the very end carries the tense and the politeness for all of them.

You can chain more than two. Every verb except the last is in the て-form.

How to make the て-form

Verbs come in two groups, ichidan and godan, plus two irregular verbs. Each line gives the ます-form first and, in brackets, the dictionary form – the plain form a dictionary lists the verb under.

Ichidan verbs put て where ます was. Their dictionary form ends in る, and that る becomes て.

• たべます食べます (たべる食べる) → たべて食べて
• みます見ます (みる見る) → みて見て
• おきます起きます (おきる起きる) → おきて起きて
• ねます寝ます (ねる寝る) → ねて寝て

Godan verbs change by the sound in front of ます, which is the same as going by the last kana of the dictionary form.

ます-form ends in	Dictionary form ends in	て-form	Example
〜います	う	〜って	買います (買う) → 買って
〜ちます	つ	〜って	待ちます (待つ) → 待って
〜ります	る	〜って	帰ります (帰る) → 帰って
〜みます	む	〜んで	飲みます (飲む) → 飲んで
〜びます	ぶ	〜んで	遊びます (遊ぶ) → 遊んで
〜にます	ぬ	〜んで	死にます (死ぬ) → 死んで
〜きます	く	〜いて	書きます (書く) → 書いて
〜ぎます	ぐ	〜いで	泳ぎます (泳ぐ) → 泳いで
〜します	す	〜して	話します (話す) → 話して

One exception.いきます行きます (いく行く) ends like かきます書きます and does not follow it. Its て-form is いって行って. ×行いて is wrong.

Two irregular verbs.

• します (する) → して
• きます来ます (くる来る) → きて来て, read きて

Which group a verb is in

The ます-form alone does not tell you. みます見ます is ichidan and gives みて見て, but のみます飲みます is godan and gives のんで飲んで. おきます起きます gives おきて起きて, but かきます書きます gives かいて書いて. That is why a first course teaches each て-form with its verb.

The dictionary form tells you more. A verb that does not end in る is godan. So is one where an a, u or o sound comes before the る: わかる分かる → わかって分かって, つくる作る → つくって作って. A verb ending in -iru or -eru is ichidan in most cases, as みる見る and たべる食べる are. A small number are godan all the same and have to be learned as words: かえる帰る → かえって帰って, はいる入る → はいって入って, はしる走る → はしって走って, しる知る → しって知って, きる切る → きって切って.

と is not "and" between verbs

と joins two nouns, not two actions. After a verb it means "when" or "if", so ×ご飯を食べますと、テレビを見ます does not say "I eat and watch television". To put two actions in one sentence, the first verb goes into the て-form.

Adjectives and nouns

An い-adjective joins to what follows by changing its final い to くて. いい becomes よくて.

A な-adjective or a noun takes で.

Qualities joined this way usually point the same direction, both good or both bad. For "cheap but not tasty" use けど or が instead.

Usage notes

These go beyond "and then".

A reason

The first half can be the reason for the second. The link is loose, closer to "and so" than to "because". The second half states what happened or how you felt; it cannot be a request or an invitation.

Negative

ない becomes なくて, and in that form it usually gives a reason. じゃなくて after a noun is "not A but B".

For "without doing", a verb takes ないで, not なくて.

Patterns built on the て-form

Many patterns start from this form. てください makes a request, ています describes an action going on now or a state that has resulted, てもいいです gives permission, and てから is "after doing".